Waggener High School - RingBrothersHistory.com

The Voice of St. Matthews, July 16, 1959:In 10 yearsA decade of sports: St. Matthews has produced great teams and athletes in 10 yearsSt. Matthews has produced some outstanding athletes and some outstanding teams in ten years. Therefore, the sports programin St. Matthews has received unequaled enthusiasm and support.No other school has done as well in all fields as Eastern High School, which has a trophy or a crown for every high schoolsport.The Eagles basketball team has done a fabulous job. In 1954, under Earl Duncan, the Eagles won the County basketballchampionship, and again in 1955, under Roy Adams, they took the crown. They were honored in 1955 by being the onlycounty team invited to play in the twelve team Louisville invitational Tournament at Male.In 1954, they also earned the 25th district championship, but lost by a narrow margin to Male in the regionals. Four boysthat year made the All-District and All-Region teams. They were Llew Spears, Dick Ewing, Phil Barker, and Hugh Durham.Durham was also an outstanding star in track and football, and was awarded the Flying Dutchman’s Corn Cob.Eagles win crown: In 1957. the Eagles had the whole County in an uproar when they won the District and Regionalcrowns, and then proceeded to the finals in the State Basketball Tournament at Freedom Hall, where they were edged outby Lafayette 55-52. Again, in 1958 and 1959, the Eagles won the County Championship. The Jayvees took the County titlein basketball in 1956.***The basketball team’s record for the first four years was 55 won and 25 lost. The football teams record was 22 and 13. CagerJohn Doninger was named to the All-State team in 1957.The football field was dedicated October 15, 1954. In 1957, the football team under Coach Emmett Goranflo, took theCounty title, In 1958. the team beat Dixie Heights to snag the Burley Football Bowl. The Eagles’ first years with morelosses than wins was 1956. The 1958 football team had 8 wins against 2 losses. In 1955, Louis Roos captured the Countyscoring title with 60 points for the season.Take track title: In 1957, the Eagles greatest year in sports, they also captured the Seventh Region Track Championship,and won it again in 1958. David Haycraft set a new high jump record of six feet in 1956, and set a record of six feet twoinches, in the State track meet. They were fifth in the state in 1957.Eastern’s tennis team captured in the State Championship in 1956. Jim Tarr won, the singles and teamed up with BurtonShelley to take the doubles. Jack and Jimmy Tarr won the Kentucky High School doubles championship in 1954, too. Thegolf team snared the state championship in 1955, and in 1956 had a record of 9-2 in 1956. The Eagles baseball team tookthe county and district champion-ships this spring with a record of 17-2, the best ever of an Eastern baseball team.* * *Trinity is famous for its track team. The Cross-county team won the state championship and were unbeaten in 1957. Againin 1958 the Cross-Country Track Team took the state title in 1956, they were third in the State. The team won the CatholicHigh School Invitational Track Meet in May, 1958. The “thinlies” slipped down to second place in this year’s State meet,however.The Shamrocks also won the 26th District baseball title, by beating Eastern in 1957. and in April, 1958, took Class B of theState Swimming Championship.Also, in 1958, the Shamrocks took the City Bowling Championship. Dave Weber won the Seventh region basketball onegamescoring record when he made 51 points in one game in February, 1957. The golf team won the Regional tournamentin golf this spring, and managed to come in third in the state.***Waggener High School is a school with more of a future in sports than a past. 1958-1959 was its first year in any varsitycompetition, although the Wildcats had had a Jayvee football team the year before and Jayvee basketball since the schoolopened.The Wildcats took the County Junior High Basketball Tournament in 1956, and that same year had a perfect baseball season.In 1958. with the oldest members on the team sophomores, the Waggener swimming team finished in first place at theState Swim Meet, Class C, and this year, with juniors, moved up to Class ??. They placed second.***The school had a rising track star in Butch Mathis, who will be a junior next year. A transfer from North Carolina last yearhe placed second in the mile and 880 at the Shawnee Invitational Track Meet, then won both the mile and 880 in the Regionalat Bellarmine. In the state meet, he finished fourth in both.Little League: But the biggest sports organization here is St. Matthews Little League Baseball for boys 9 to 12, Organizedin 1953, it now has 16. The original plans were for four teams, but so many boys showed up on the first day, that a minorleague as well as a major league was begun. Eight St. Matthews firms agreed to sponsor teams, and Sander’s Cleanersagreed (and still does) to clean uniforms free.A regulation ball park with dugouts stands, and press box was erected on the Community Center playground in 1953. The